Handle for plates and dishes



(No ModeL) J. B. TIMBERLAKE.

HANDLE FOR PLATESAND DISHES.

N. PETERS. Fluotmblhognphnr. Wilhingflm. n c

UNITED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. TIMBERLAKE, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

HANDLE FOR PLATES AND DISHES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 264,795, dated September 19, 1882,

Application filed August 10, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. TIMBERLAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Handles for Plates or Dishes, of which the following is a speci' fication, reference being bad therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction ofhandles for dishes of glass or earthenware, and in' the method of attaching the same to dishes and vessels, it pertaining more especially to improvements upon devices shown in my previous patents, No. 233,362, dated July 20,1880, and No. 2tf),807, dated November 22,18Sl. The last of said patents, No. 249,807, shows a handle extending rigidly from side to side of a vessel, and having ado wn wardly-projecting screw-threaded rod or arm on each side, with which a nut engages for clamping the handle in place. Some inconvenience is experiencedin employing a handle of this character, arising from the fact that the downwardly-projecting threaded rods or arms not only prevent the application of the handle to such dishes as have the supporting flanges or heads at the very bottom, but also from the fact that they (said threaded rods), prevent, under some circumstances, the ornamentation whichit is desirable to have at the point where they project.

The present invention relates to a rigidlyattached handle extending across the top of the dish and provided with fastening devices of suchnature as to permit it to be applied not only at the top or points above the bottom, but also allow the attachment of the handle directly to the base or bottom part of the article.

It relates, further, to so applying the fastening devices to the handle that the latter shall be held rig-idly in an uprightposition, while at the same time the means of fastening shallbe entirely concealed, either by being made flush with the bottom of the supporting flange or bead or by means of ornamental coverings.

The invention relates 'to other matters of detail, which will more fully hereinafter appear.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a comparatively flat plate or dish of the character used for holding cheese and similar articles. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a vessel having my improved handle applied thereto directly at the bottom. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are views of modi fied forms of devices for fastening the handle. Fig. 6 shows'a method of clamping the handle and at the same time concealing the fastening devices by ornamental coverings.

In the drawings, the body of the vessel ordish is represented by A, which may be of the character of almost any of the ordinary vessels or dishes, though the present invention is more especially applicable to those in which it is necessary or desirable to secure the bandle at a low point in or nearlyin the plane of the bottom. These dishes or vessels, for table purposes, are generally formed to have one or more rims or flanges projecting outwardly beyond the space occupied by the article, and many have rin s or beads between the upper and lower edges. Thus plates for holding bread, pies, &o., are generally comparatively flat, having wide outwardly-extending flanges or rims a, as do also dishes for holding pickles and the like, though the latter sometimes have lugs instead of continuous beads or rims, and sometimes have the lugs or heads at something of a distance above the bottom, as shown at a in Fig. 6.

While the plates or dishes are being made they can be provided with apertures 0 in the flanges, rims, or heads; but this invention is alsoapplieable to vessels which have already been finished withoutaperturestherein,assuoh apertures can be readily formed by processes and appliances brought into use of late years.

I form the handle preferably of a single piece of thin metal, either round or polygonal in cross-section, bent into U shape, or into an equivalent form. The legs B B of the handle may be provided with expanded parts I) b at the lower ends, which can'extend upward to any suitable point. The handle is provided with apertures passing upward into or through the expanded parts 0 b, which apertures are arranged to correspond with the apertures 0 in the flanges or rims of the plates or dishes.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the handle is fastened in place by means of the following devices G G G G are screws or threaded rods adapted topass upward through the apertures c in 'said flanges, rims, or beads, and to engage with the apertures. The head of the rod or screw is preferably of such shape as to be ICO concealed, and for this purpose the apertures 0 may be countersunk upon the under side of the flangeor rim. When thus arranged the handle may besecured to the very base or bottom of the article in such way as to prevent any of the clamping devices from interfering with the proper support of or from marring the appearance of the vessel. In this respect a handle of this character is superior to the one shown in my aforesaid Patent No. 249,807, butit has, in common therewith, the advantage that the screw-threaded fastening devices of one leg of the handle are by the other pre vented from being disengaged, as it is'impossible to have any axial movement of the handle relative to the dish, or vice versa, when the handle is thus fastened at two diametrically-opposite points.

It will be seen thatthe clamping of each leg is effected by means of the expanded head 0' engaging with the under side of the lug, head, or rim. This expanded part 0 of the clamping devices may be varied more or less without departing materially from the essential part of the invention. Thus, as shown in Fig. 4, the expanded part 0 is provided by means of solder so applied as to engage with the short downward extension G from the leg of the handle. The head 0 thus produced, however, acts substantially similarly to that provided by the head of the screw, as shown in Fig. 2. The expanded part 0 may, as shown in Fig. 5, be formed by spreading the downward extension C of the leg of the handle .so as to crowd it against the glass or earthenware to provide a clamp in substantially the manner described.

Instead of making the parts I) b above the rim or bead of the dish integral with the handle, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, they may be made-in the form of sleeves, as shown in Fig. 3, which sleeves may be engaged with the handle by screw-threads, solder, or otherwise, and with which the screws (J G can be caused to engage in the manner described for the construction shown in Fig. 2.

\Vhen the handle is fastened by any of the above -described forms of devices not only can it be applied to the dish at a lower point, but also the fastening can be completely concealed, as there is no downwardly-projecting threaded rod, as has been customary heretofore. This latter end can be attained also by using the means shown in Fig. 6, in which case the downward extensions (3 of the legs of the handle are provided with grooves or recesses, and into these grooves or recesses can be crowded more or less of the metal of theclamping parts 0 (made in the form of concealing drops or ornamentations) by means of pliers or suitable tools. The drop or ornamental piece is thus made to operate both as a clamp and as a cover to conceal the fastening. This last form, though it cannot be applied at as low a point as can the other means shown,yet,in common therewith, has this feature just mentionedto wit, the concealing of the clamp or fastening.

D represents a cushion or washer, preferably made of rubber or equivalent material, and placed either between the flange or head a and the lower end of the handle, or between said flange or bead and the head of the screw or threaded rod; or, if desired, a cushion or washer of this character may be employed upon each side of the flange or bead, the object being to prevent the material of the dish or vessel from being marred or broken by the strain caused in clamping the handle tightly in place. It also operates to prevent any loosening of the handle that might resultfrorn a contraction or expansion of the parts relatively to each other caused by heating or cooling.-

It will be seen that the handle extends continuously in one rigid piece from one of the expanded parts I) over the top of the vessel and down to the other expanded portion b.

What I claim is- 1. The combination, with the herein-described handle extending rigidly from side to side of the dish or vessel, of the screws 0 0, which pass upwardly through a portion of the dish to engage with the handle, and which have expanded parts 0 G, situated lower down than the threaded parts 0, and adapted to be made flush with the lower surface of that portion of the dish to which the handle is attached, whereby the handle can be fastened to a low part of a plate, substantially as set forth. I

2. The combination, with the handle extending rigidly from one side to the other of the plate'or vessel, of the parts 0 0, adapted to pass through a lug or flange on the plate or dish, and the expanded parts 0 O, which entirely conceal the parts (3 O, and which bear against the under side of the flange or lug which holds the handle, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the handle having the expanded parts b b at the lower ends of the legs, of the screws or threaded rods G 0, adapted to be passed upwardly through 

